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  • First Test

  • Book 1 of the Protector of the Small Quartet
  • Written by: Tamora Pierce
  • Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
  • Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)

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First Test cover art

First Test

Written by: Tamora Pierce
Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
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Publisher's Summary

In the medieval and fantastic realm of Tortall, Keladry of Mindelan (known as Kel) is the first girl to take advantage of the decree that permits females to train for knighthood. Up against the traditional hazing of pages and a grueling schedule, Kel faces only one real roadblock: Lord Wyldon, the training master of pages and squires. He is absolutely against girls becoming knights. So while he is forced to train her, Wyldon puts her on probation for one year. It is a trial period that no male page has ever had to endure and one that separates the good-natured Kel even more from her fellow trainees during the tough first year. But Kel is not a girl to underestimate, as everyone is about to find out.
©1999 Tamora Pierce (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Group

What the critics say

"A splendidly rousing feast." ( Booklist)
"This is smooth storytelling and a satisfying read." ( School Library Journal)

What listeners say about First Test

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The protector of the small

After the adventures of The Protector of the Small—otherwise called Lady Knight Keledry mindelanit would be nice to hear more about Kel’s p the of skill.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Journeying with Kel

I have finished my first adventure with Kel and I enjoyed it. i have always enjoyed school adventures and Tammy has once more added other elements I love - knights, magic, and royalty.

I enjoyed this one very much.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Girl-centric coming of age story.

Perhaps my favourite of Tamora Pierce's series'. Strong female characters, decent narration. Good beginning to a great series.
#Audible1

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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The protector of the small quartet Book #1

Did not Love it, but it is a first book in a series. Which tend not to be my favourite.
I have heard Bearnadette Dunne read other books she is a good reader.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2016-08-24

Narration does not fit the story

If you've never read the books, the narration might not be too bad. If you have read the books, her depiction of Kel is jarring. She almost makes Kel sound whiny, which is far from how Tamora Pierce portrays the character. I love this story, hate the narration.

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11 people found this helpful

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  • Tabitha Foster
  • 2017-02-18

good

The narrator kept changing the pronunciation of the names. By the end she got it right.

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6 people found this helpful

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  • Cait Murphy
  • 2016-10-19

interesting story

The story itself was very well written.

but having read the book before it took me a while to get used to the narrators voice for the characters, especially Kel's.

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5 people found this helpful

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  • Vincent
  • 2016-11-20

Bernadette

If you could sum up First Test in three words, what would they be?


Where does First Test rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This story is a wonderful contribution to the Tortall universe, and an amazing call back to my still beloved Alanna series. However I have to say Bernadette doesn't do it justice. Numair and many other "adult" characters either have a raspy voice, or a full blown "old man" croak. all the boys speak in the came voice, and Kel herself sounds exactly like one of the extra boy voices. TL;DR: Bernadette has ONE voice, and it's her own. Long live Trini Avarado.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Bernadette Dunne?


Unfortunately she does this entire quartlet. so I kind of have to.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2021-06-12

back to tortall

I have loved her work since I was 13 and I have no intention of stopping now. Tamera pierce brings us back to tortall 1 year after realms of the gods and I'm glad to be back!

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Karen
  • 2012-07-23

Loved it

I loved all the charactors in the book. Found myself listening to it twice because I tend to miss areas while working. I purchased the second in the series as soon as I was done, and I'm now on the forth in the series.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Reader & Listener
  • 2011-10-19

Great Story, Mediocre Narrator

I really love this book and series, but miss Full-Cast Audio just as much. The narrator does make voices terribly, I had trouble telling characters apart, and the 10 year old heroine has a deeper voice than many of the male characters, even older ones. However, she does read pretty smoothly, and I didn't notice any pronunciation problems.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Tasha
  • 2023-09-05

LOVE Tamora Pierce

This is my absolute favorite book series! I love that the female lead aspect, and a lot of tomorrow pierces books. The story is inspiring, and just a great world that she has built in this book series! You definitely have to finish the book series! This was just the start to a really fantastic series!

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  • CS
  • 2023-06-17

Kel is my favorite

Of all the Tortall stories, Kel’s is my favorite. She shows the true grit of survival without the crutch of magic. I have read this series over and again; now I can listen to it!

The narrator was not my favorite. She did not take the time to pronounce the characters names correctly or consistently. Her vocal range could not keep up with the number of characters, and her character voices were not at all how I’ve pictured these characters. In fact she made Kel sound almost whiny and meek, which is not at all Kel. She was articulate and well-paced.

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  • Nick
  • 2023-05-06

I love Tamora. She’s one of my favorite authors

I guess she lost her magic. The numair book was pretty flop as well. It’s like the writing is there but the story isn’t. Literally a boring lame version of Alanna without magic

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